Things To Look Forward To In 2026

Dear Readers:

Christ is Born!

As 2025 comes to a close and with 2026 drawing near, I wanted to bring to your attention some of the things I have been working on and will be working on in the new year.

First I wanted to update everyone on the present and future of each of my thirteen websites that currently make up as a whole the Mystagogy Resource Center. Some I have only sparsely worked on this past year, but will focus on them more in the new year. I especially want to focus on making the many thousands of pages of material on each site more accessible and easier to reference specific articles, which is an enormous and time-consuming task but necessary.

1. Honey and Hemlock

I established this website to focus mainly on subjects dealing with the arts and culture, among other such relevant topics. Not only do I plan on posting more here, but my primary focus is to fix up this website, with its 656 posts as of right now, and categorize them better.

2. Orthodox Youth Resources

This website of 128 current posts was created to address topics dealing specifically with young people that are not addressed elsewhere on my other sites and can be useful not only to Orthodox youth, but also to anyone who works in youth ministry or even just parents and teachers in general. There is a lot of material I have for this website which I will focus more on posting, but again this website needs to be more accessible and better categorized in 2026.

3. Orthodoxy and World Religions

This past year I gathered a lot of material on various world religions and the topic of religion in general for this site of what is now 132 posts. Currently my focus has been on translating a Russian text titled "The Christian Commandment of Love Is a 'New' Commandment," which shows how the topic of love as taught by Christ is radically different from any teaching about love in any other previous religion or philosophy. After I finish this, I will focus on publishing more and categorizing better.

4. Bio-Orthodoxy

At 397 current posts, this website also needs to be better categorized and fixed up. The purpose of this site is to focus on scientific issues, including those issues related to Christianity, and right now I am translating a text by St. Luke the Surgeon of Crimea titled "Science and Religion." Next I will be translating a series of homilies by St. Neophytos the Recluse on the first few chapters of Genesis.

5. Daimonologia

Unfortunately this website has 673 posts, and I haven't even begun to categorize them, except for some Resource Pages, so there is a lot of work to be done here in 2026. Daimonologia focuses more on darker subjects of culture and thought, and is shaping up to become a very comprehensive Demonology. Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko wrote a lot on this subject in the 19th century, especially exploring the topic of poltergeists, so I am in the process of translating what he wrote. He also wrote an Angelology, but I will probably translate that for my main page. In 2026 one of my goals is to also translate the short stories of Alexandros Papadiamantis that deal with "paranormal" subjects.

6. Eschatologia

This website also lacks any categorization, despite having 308 posts, making anything to find here a burdensome task. My hope is to rectify this in 2026. So if you are interested in a topic dealing with life after death, the end times, biblical prophecies and modern day trends in these subjects, you should find it much more easier in the coming months to find the topic you are looking for.

7. New Myriobiblon

Book reviews are the sole topic of this website, practically on any subject. Sometimes I offer my own book reviews, and will eventually focus more on that, but currently I either translate interesting book reviews or I gather book reviews that I think are interesting or important, such as, for example, all the book reviews written by Fr. George Florovsky. These also need to be categorized and more accessible in 2026, though I have only posted 41 book reviews so far.

8. Erotapokriseis

I always thought it would be important to have a website devoted only to questions and answers, so this is it. Up to now I have given brief answers to 214 questions, but I decided to change my approach to how I do this. The reason for this change is because the questions I started getting focused only on controversial topics, and I am not interested in solely addressing controversial topics. For this reason in 2026 I will continue to do the question and answer format, but I will translate texts, both ancient and modern, all Orthodox, where the question and answer format was used. Perhaps every once in a while I will address some questions posed to me, but I haven't decided yet. And yes, this site desperately needs categorization for easier referencing.

9. Know Thyself

I have only posted less than 20 posts here, so it is severely under developed, considering the wealth of material I have on the subject of morals and ethics, which this site is devoted to. There will be an increase of posts to this site in 2026.

10. Salvation of Sinners

My original idea for this website has changed, so in 2026 I will figure out what to replace this with and change the name. I have a few ideas floating in my head. Right now I am leaning towards the topics of heresies and apologetics. I tend to avoid posting on these subjects because they seem out of place on my other sites, so instead of continuing to sit on the rich treasure of material I have on these topics, it may be the right time to bring them out. Another idea I had was a website dedicated solely to historical subjects, or even one dedicated to philosophical subjects. I will be making my decision in early 2026.

11. Praxis and Theoria

Another website I have neglected was originally created to post my own random thoughts and experiences, however because I am usually occupied with my other more important websites and this one is last in my priorities, I hardly post here. My intention for this website in 2026 is to post at least two thoughts and experiences from my own personal life once a week, or maybe once every two weeks. I don't like talking about myself, but I think its important when publishing the material of so many others that I have some personal connection to my writing, to bring something out from within instead of always internalizing what is not my own. I probably won't be advertising what I write here on social media, so you will have to check in for updates. I will post it in my daily newsletter, which requires a paid subscription.

12. Orthodox Christianity Then and Now

This was my original main page, which I decided to retire and make into an archive a few years ago when it reached over 16,000 posts. This will remain an archive, but it still needs a lot of work to become an effective archive. Categorization is essential for more than 16,000 posts, and to do so the right way will require hundreds of hours. Many pages also need to be edited since it was reformatted, and I wouldn't mind deleting a few hundred irrelevant posts I made early on when I was less focused and more random in my posts.

13. Mystagogy Resource Center

This is my current main page, and where I have consistently posted daily. Since January 2023 I have made 2,429 posts, and there are many thousands to go. I won't even get into all the things I am doing and will be doing in 2026 for this website, there is just so much, and there isn't enough space right now to get into it. I will save it for a future date. And yes, this needs to be categorized too. 

Besides these thirteen websites, I also plan on opening a bookstore where I will not only publish some books I have worked on over the years, but where I will offer every month a new booklet. In December I am offering a booklet I translated by Fr. George Florovsky, titled "Did Christ Live? Historical Evidence of Christ". This booklet is $20. If you have already ordered, it will be mailed this week. I will also offer some of my previous booklets for sale again. My next booklet will be available some time in January. 

If anyone donates $60 a year or $5 a month (Paypal or Patreon) you will also be enrolled in receiving my daily newsletter, which will start having some exclusive content. If anyone subscribes $25 a month or more, you will qualify to receive my monthly booklet, but you have to inform me you want the monthly booklet. My free weekly newsletter will resume beginning in January, which you can sign up for from this website.

The only reason I am able to offer what I offer free of charge, despite the enormous amount of work and time it takes, is because those of you who have benefited in some way from this ministry want to see it continue and thrive. For that I am grateful and hope that you can continue supporting the work of the Mystagogy Resource Center in 2026. 

A blessed new year to all!

John Sanidopoulos.

 

On the Eve of the Nativity of Christ and the New Year (Fr. Michael Pomazansky)

 

On the Eve of the Nativity of Christ and the New Year 

By Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky

(Delivered in 1957)

“God is with us!” Already the Orthodox Christian breathes in the life-giving stream of sacred memories. Already the soul is being filled with the festive church hymns that glorify the descent of God to earth — and the love and closeness of God are felt more keenly. In these days people will stand closer to one another in the churches, and in doing so will also draw nearer to one another in their hearts.

More vividly there come to mind the homeland and the images of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ in church, in the family, and in the life of the people. More sharply the thought of loved ones left behind there responds in the heart, and the breast sighs more deeply over all that has been painfully abandoned there to the mercy of fate.

Now we are in a foreign land. Yet we bless this sojourn abroad, where we are free in conscience and in thought. The Lord has preserved us! The sense of our personal preservation resonates with the Church’s doxology: God’s good pleasure is with us. God is with us.

2013 Pastoral Encyclical for Christmas (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Pastoral Encyclical

Sacred Metropolis of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Christmas 2012

The Love of Christ

The day of Christmas is a warm and blessed day, because we feel the love of Christ, who became man in order to meet us after our apostasy and our departure from Paradise. We were wounded by sin, and He came as a physician to heal us; we were in exile, and He came as a friend to our land; we were in despair, and He brought us hope; we had deep pain of soul and body, and He gave us joy. How can a person not love such a God — who loves, who is born as a man in a cave, who passes through the malice of men, who is forced to live as a refugee in Egypt, who experiences all the tragic conditions of life that humanity endured, and who finally sacrifices Himself to save us?

Saint Melania the Roman in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Melania lived during the reign of Honorius and came from a noble and illustrious family. Because she loved the Lord with all her soul, she desired to live a virginal life. Her parents, however, pressured her and, against her will, led her into marriage, from which she had two children. Later, her parents and her children departed from this life, and the Saint left the Rome and went to live in a suburb. There she devoted herself to hospitality toward strangers who came, and to visiting prisoners and exiles.

After this, having sold her great property and gathered twelve myriads of gold, she distributed money to monasteries and churches, while she herself ate every two days, then every five days, so that in the end she ate only on Saturday and Sunday. She also had the gift of writing skillfully and intelligently. She lived in Africa for seven years, and after scattering her great wealth, she reached Alexandria. From there she went to Jerusalem, where she enclosed herself in a cell. She gathered around herself ninety virgins, for whom she continually provided all that was necessary for their life.

At a certain time she was suddenly seized by pain in her side and became gravely ill. She then summoned the Bishop of Eleutheropolis and received Holy Communion from him. And after she had gathered all the sisters, she uttered this saying as her final word: "As it seemed good to the Lord, so it came to pass." And immediately she surrendered her spirit to the Lord.

December: Day 31: Teaching 6: Saint Zotikos the Feeder of Orphans

December: Day 31: Teaching 6:*
Saint Zotikos the Feeder of Orphans
 
(What Does It Mean To Take Care of an Orphan?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Zotikos, whose memory the Holy Church celebrates today, is distinguished among the saints by the special title of "Feeder of Orphans." Pleasing God with all the virtues required by God's law of anyone seeking salvation, the Saint especially dedicated himself to serving orphans, to whom he was a true father and provider. 

The Holy Martyr Zotikos lived in the 4th century A.D., first in Rome, then he moved to Constantinople. He was known to Emperor Constantine the Great, from whom he repeatedly received financial donations for charitable works. Possessing considerable wealth himself, Saint Zotikos rejected this wealth and all the worldly, vain honors that awaited him in his ministry, accepted the rank of priest, and set himself the task of serving the poor orphans and widows. He opened his home in Constantinople to all the homeless, sheltering them from heat and cold and assisting them in their dire need with all possible means. Thus, during his life, Saint Zotikos wiped away many bitter tears, comforted many, and saved many poor and orphaned people from spiritual and physical ruin. For this, the Lord crowned him with the crown of heavenly glory and eternal blessedness, deigning him to end his life as a martyr for denouncing the heresy of Arius under Emperor Constantius.

II. Following the example of Saint Zotikos the Feeder of Orphans, let us, brethren, also be concerned with the care of orphans, especially since this is directly commanded by the word of God. In the New Testament, caring for widows and orphans is placed as the most important act of Christian faith and piety. "Pure and undefiled religion before God," says Saint James, "is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction" (James 1:27).

But what does it mean to take care of an orphan?

a) To look after an orphan means to enable him to acquire the necessities of life himself, to make him capable of honest and useful work. For an orphan, there is no warmth greater than that of a mother's love, which could warm his heart and awaken in him holy feelings of love for God and neighbor, meekness and patience, modesty and chastity, mercy and compassion — which could enliven and inspire him with the spirit of faith and trust in God, the spirit of prayer and devotion to God's will. Having looked after an orphan, let him experience the sweetness and warmth of maternal and, in general, parental love, with all the innumerable beneficial consequences for his religious and moral education and truly Christian life. If you do not allow an orphan to die of hunger and cold, if one gives him bread, another some clothing, a third some money, then you have still not looked after him. What good will these casual, indifferent alms, seemingly forced by the petitioner's importunity, do to the orphan? Will not the easy method of acquiring wealth through begging accustom him to laziness, idleness, vagrancy, and shamelessness? If the alms are abundant, will they not serve as an excuse for frivolous and useless spending, for intemperance, debauchery, and licentiousness? If, on the contrary, the alms are meager, will they not develop a passion for supplementing them by theft or other dishonest means? Isn't this precisely how most of the unfortunates who fill our prisons are formed in our societies? It is a sacred duty to give alms to the beggar, but the most precious thing is to place the needy in a position where they can satisfy their own needs and not be forced to beg for alms from others, which is sometimes more difficult and bitter than enduring poverty and grief. It is a good deed to feed the hungry or clothe the naked; but, without a doubt, it is better and more beneficial to ensure that both are able and know how to obtain food and clothing themselves, without having to knock on doors or abuse the most holy name of Christ. If our charity were to forever adopt this truly Christian direction, if general sympathy, especially for orphans, were always expressed in this truly brotherly assistance, then the homeless orphan would not become savage, corrupt, or a rotten and harmful member of society, a burden to himself and others; then the homeless youth would not give himself over to idleness and debauchery and become a scourge on society, but would be an active and useful member. Thus, caring for an orphan with the goal of his upbringing, that is a truly good and holy deed! That is a truly Christian endeavor, which the Lord our God Himself places upon us! "You are to leave bread for the poor, and be a helper to the orphan," thus He speaks from heaven to each of us.

b) What does it mean, further, to look after an orphan? It means to replace his parents, his biological father and mother. Can this be achieved without tender, familial love for him? No matter how much you caress an orphan, if your caresses don't sparkle with true, genuine love, they will leave a chill, and the young, tender, receptive heart of the child will feel this chill. No matter what wise instructions you give your young charge, if they don't ring with sincere, heartfelt love and don't touch the tender strings of the young heart, they will fly right past his ears, skim the surface of his soul, and be forgotten faster than you can finish them. Then the reward for all your labors will be mere polite, but not heartfelt, gratitude. Much less will a warm, heartfelt prayer be raised to God for you, or a fervent tear of gratitude be shed before the Heavenly Father — all your labor will remain fruitless. Instead, be inspired by sincere Christian love for these little ones. Then the tender heart of a child will be drawn to yours as by a magnet, will submit completely to your influence, and will cling to you with its ardent love. Your advice and guidance will deepen in their soul, take root, grow, and bear good fruit, always guarding them from error and vice. But even if the storms of life blow upon him with their corrupting breath, disturb his soul and heart with impure passions, and draw him down the perilous path of vice, the memory of your love will awaken his conscience, soften his heart, draw from his chest a heavy sigh of remorse, and draw from his eyes a tear of remorse. Are there many examples where the mere memory of a kind, loving mother has brought the most hardened villains to repentance? Oh, what a precious service to humanity this is! What a truly sacred deed of love and at the same time the most precious reward of love!

c) What does it mean, finally, to look after an orphan? It means to preserve in his soul the grace of Holy Baptism, to develop, direct, and train all the powers of his soul and body, sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, for proper activity; it means to raise the child into a true Christian, a son of the Church of Christ, a man of God, prepared for every good work. Here, pious educators of orphans, you become servants not of nature, but of the grace of God; you replace for the orphan not his earthly parents, but the Heavenly Father, Who, entrusting to you His children adopted by Him in Holy Baptism, promises and grants you His divine grace to help. You are taking the place of their heavenly Mother, the most holy and most blessed Queen of heaven and earth, who, having chosen you as her co-workers, entrusts to your care that which is most precious on our earth — the Christian child washed and sanctified by the blood of her Son. Do you feel the full height of your calling, the full grandeur of your service in the Kingdom of God, the full glory of the reward prepared for you, and the full weight of the answer before the Judgment of God for these little ones? "It is not the will of my Father that one of these little ones should perish," says our Lord Jesus Christ. "Take heed therefore lest ye despise one of these little ones." If by our care and concern they are preserved for the Kingdom of God, if, at least, from your own hands you deliver them into the hands of God's Providence, into the midst of Christian society, pure and blameless, prepared for every good work; then with what a bright and joyful face you will appear before the throne of God and say: “Here I am and the children whom You have given me, Lord!” 

III. With what treasures and rewards will the Heavenly Father not reward you for these little ones! With what honor will the Son of God not honor you in His Kingdom! With what heavenly joys will the Most Holy Mother of God not console you! With what joy will the holy angels of these little ones meet you, embrace you, and lead you into the heavenly dwellings, who see your cares and concerns for them, read in your hearts the Christian love for them, and are themselves ready with love to help you!

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.   

Notes: 

* In the original Russian text, Saint Zotikos is commemorated on December 30th, and there this reading is placed under Teaching 1. To conform it to the Greek calendar, the translation of the text was moved to December 31st and there it is placed as Teaching 6.

 

Saint Melania the Roman Resource Page

St. Melania the Younger of Rome (Feast Day - December 31)

Verses

Not with a physical hand and ink Melania,
Did Christ record you among the living after death.
On the thirty-first Melania was taken away from life.

 

Synaxarion of Saint Melania the Younger of Rome

  

Saint Melania the Younger of Rome (Palladius of Helenopolis)

 

Life of Saint Melania the Younger of Rome (St. Dimitri of Rostov)

 

December: Day 31: Teaching 1: Venerable Melania the Roman 

 

Saint Melania the Roman in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church 

 

The Cell and Tomb of Saint Melania the Younger in Jerusalem

 

Prologue in Sermons: December 31

It is Not Right to Judge a Person’s Afterlife by the Condition of the Body After Death

December 31
 
(A Saying From the Paterikon About a Certain Holy Elderly Woman and Ascetic)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

When someone dies, some of the ignorant judge the state of that person’s soul by whether the body has decomposed or not before burial. If it has remained intact, they think that such a person pleased God; but if otherwise, they are convinced that the deceased angered God and must go to hell. That those who judge in this way are mistaken is shown by the following account of Venerable Ammon concerning a certain holy elderly woman and ascetic.

“I knew,” he says, “a holy hermitess who spent a very long time withdrawn from the world in fasting and prayer. Once, in answer to my question as to what had caused her to part from the world, she replied thus:

The Meaning of Christmas and Its Obscuration (Fr. George Metallinos)

The Meaning of Christmas and Its Obscuration 

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Metallinos

With His incarnation and His birth, the God-man Jesus Christ fulfills the purpose of the creation of man: the manifestation of the God-man in history, the union of the created creature with the Uncreated Creator. The purpose of the Incarnation is the deification (theosis) of man.

“Man becomes God, so that Adam may attain God.” (Christmas troparion).

“He became man so that we might be deified” (Saint Athanasios the Great).

“For God became man and man became God” (Saint John Chrysostom).

Within the logic of a moralist, the term “that we might be deified,” which Fathers such as Saint Athanasios use, is a scandal. For this reason they speak of a so-called “moral deification.” This is because they fear accepting that through deification there occurs, “by grace,” what the Triune God is “by nature” (uncreated, without beginning, immortal).

2012 Pastoral Encyclical for Christmas (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Pastoral Encyclical

Sacred Metropolis of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Christmas 2012

Beloved brethren,

We glorify God and thank Him for His great gift: that He loved the world — especially mankind — and revealed this love abundantly. The Son and Word of God, with the good pleasure of the Father and the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, became man; He assumed our human nature and deified it, without departing from His divinity. We also glorify God and the Church, which has filled our lives with these divine gifts — that is, the feasts of the Nativity of Christ, the Circumcision of Christ, and the Holy Theophany, the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan. In these days we will once again experience the great love of God toward all of us, provided that we possess the necessary conditions to understand it.